In a townmeeting held by the NCC with the theme “Mitigating effects of cybercrimes: the role of telecom consumers”, Onwuegbuchulam, who was represented by her deputy, Alhaji Ismail Adedigba said that the NCC evolved the initiative to identify, discuss and jointly proffer effective solutions to different issues affecting telecoms consumers in the country.

“As a tripartite programme, the forum aims to, on a continuous basis, engage telecoms consumers by educating, informing and empowering them with the information they need to know, their rights when violated by the service providers.

“Since we started organising this event some years back, we have treated different thematic topics, which have produced key resolutions that have been communicated to service providers for implementation.

“Indeed, this has helped to guarantee improved services and value for money spent on telecom services for the consumers. Telecom consumers have been the ultimate beneficiaries of the initiatives,” she said.

Why this matters: As global concerns for cybercrime continue to rise, the need for cybersecurity in the country has become highly sacrosanct. The Nigerian financial system is under threat as the UN E-Government Survey 2018 announced that 193 countries might be attacked by cybercriminals and hackers.

Note that Nigeria ranked 143 out of the member countries survey. All this shows that the move by the NCC is imperative in curbing cybercrime and in fact, NCC needs to do more.

Related

Chidinma holds a degree in Mass communication from Caleb University Lagos and a Masters in view in Public Relations. She strongly believes in self development which has made her volunteer with an NGO on girl child development. She loves writing, reading and travelling.
You may contact her via - chidinma.nwagbara@nairametrics.ng

How to access CBN’s healthcare grant

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued the guidelines to its Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme (HSRDIS).

The grant was designed to help strengthen the public healthcare system with innovative financing of research and development (R&D) in new and improved drugs, vaccines and diagnostics of infectious diseases in Nigeria.

This was disclosed by CBN via its site in Saturday and seen by Nairametrics. The guideline stated that the HSRDIS is designed to trigger intense national R&D activities to develop a Nigerian vaccine, drugs and herbal medicines against the spread of COVID-19.

CBN Releases it’s Healthcare Research and Development Grant Guidelines to help strengthen the public healthcare system. See website…ow.ly/SLxc50A0Njo

It stated, “It would also curb any other communicable or non-communicable diseases through the provision of grants to biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies, institutions, researchers, and research institutes.

The Scheme is intended to boost domestic manufacturing of critical drugs and vaccines to ensure their sustainable domestic supply and reduce the bulk manufacturing costs of the drugs, herbal medicines and vaccines in Nigeria.

Timeframe given to research activities was not more than two years from the date of release of fund and Development/Manufacturing activities are not more than one (1) year from the date of release of fund.

Who is eligible:

Candidate vaccines undergoing pre-clinical testing or trials shall not be
eligible for consideration under this Scheme.

But candidate vaccines undergoing clinical testing or trials shall be eligible for consideration under the Scheme if considered to have high potential to cross the clinical trial stage and prospects of scale by the Body of Experts (BoE).

It stated, “In applying for the grant, the applicant shall be required to have conducted pre-clinical testing of the candidate drugs, herbal medicines and vaccines, and obtained certification from relevant health authorities for further research and development.

“Special consideration shall be given to candidate drugs, herbal medicines and
vaccines with high scientific merit against emerging infections and contribute to the development of the Nigerian vaccine.”

Modalities

The applicant(s) shall submit its application, with relevant documentation of validation from relevant health authorities, trial results, patent registration details (if any) and development timetable to the Body of Experts (BoE).

“Upon approval, the approved grant sum shall be released to the applicant’s
account with any PFI of his/her choice. The beneficiary shall submit periodic progress report on the project to the CBN.

“The CBN shall have proprietary right over all financed R&D outcomes or
products. Equally, licensing protocol for the mass manufacturing of developed
drugs, phytomedicines and vaccines shall be defined by the BoE in accordance with
the World Health Organisation’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP),” it added.

However American dollar ended the week cumulatively lower, for a third straight week, as uncertainty about America’s economy limited its upside.

The uncertainties about the economic outlook and the possibilities of a second wave of COVID-19 infections had capped the greenback’s gains, Chuck Tomes, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management said in an interview with CNBC.

What is the importance of the dollar index? The American Dollar Index tracks the U.S dollar strength relatively against a bouquet of other major currencies around the world, such as (Japanese yen, Euro, British pounds sterling, Swedish krona, Canadian dollar, Swiss Franc).

Nigerians hoping to meet foreign exchange debt or payment obligations, transactions via the U.S dollar to countries like France, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany Japan, would have the need to pay fewer dollars to fulfill such transactions.

“Today you’ve seen better-than-expected economic data coming out of the U.S. in terms of the jobs numbers.

“The reaction on the back of that has been expectations of better growth coming out of the U.S. as well as a steepening yield curve, both of which have provided a lift to the dollar.” Chuck Tomes added.

However, some currency analysts in a report to CNBC said the good macroeconomic gains recorded on Friday in America might not be repeated soon.

The NPA also noted in its publication that 23 ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with containers, general cargo and petrol, while 17 other ships were at the ports discharging containers, petrol, butane, bulk fertilizer, bulk wheat, general cargo and frozen fish.

What you should know

When the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and several industries started shutting down, the Nigerian government took the decision to leave Nigerian ports operation in line with stipulated guidelines.

This was done to prevent further contraction in the economy, as the economic implications of shutting down the seaports in an import-dependent economy were considered unsavory.

The government decided that, just like the food and healthcare sectors, the ports were to be considered essential too since there was a need to keep a steady import of foods, refined petroleum products, raw materials for the local industries, finished consumer goods and most importantly, drugs for the healthcare system.

Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Bala-Usman, also suspended applicable terminal storage fees on consignments for an initial period of 21 days effective 23 March, and agreed to fast-track the clearance of over 1,500 overtime cargoes as part of its efforts to promote ease of business.